Better Than a Snitch
by S. C. Hardy
Summary: Ginny gets an invitation from a certain green eyed man, asking her to meet him at the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch for a challenge that ends up changing her life.


Ginny Weasley was never one to decline an invitation, so it didn't surprise her that she had taken the trip to the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch after being asked to a week ago. Of course, a certain green-eyed bespectacled man had sent the invite, so it wasn't that hard of a decision to make.

The grounds of Hogwarts were as beautiful as ever as she neared the pitch on the clear Saturday afternoon. Easter Holiday had begun that weekend, so there weren't many students lingering around on the grounds. Before she completely entered the pitch, she noticed something gold streak across the land, and she wondered briefly if a Snitch had gotten loose.   
  


She entered the pitch she hadn't been on in three years and was surprised to see Harry already there, zooming around in his…

Gryffindor Quidditch Uniform? 

Ginny stopped, looking at him in amusement. 

She had always found Quidditch Uniforms_ very_ sexy. 

The redhead grinned and trotted over to the middle of the pitch, waving her arms over her head to announce her arrival. Harry waved and as he descended she caught the gleam of excitement that always resided in Harry's eyes as he flew, and she blushed, remembering exactly why she thought he was so handsome.

Harry Potter had changed from their first glance at each other on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. His round face had matured and become very angular and thin with high cheekbones that Ginny absolutely _adored_. As he got close enough for her to see the wide smile on his face, Ginny darted her eyes away because she _still_ blushed when she thought about what nice thin lips he had. 

He had always been short, and since she _was _a Weasley, he stood only two inches taller than her. It was always fun to tease him about that, and when she did, he used the strength he gained from being a Quidditch player to keep her under his control. _That's always rather fun, actually_, Ginny thought

Only three things remained same on Harry, Ginny thought as she stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest, examining him as he took his time in reaching her. 

One, his hair, that always, no matter how hard he tried to push it down, stuck up in odd directions. The redhead often threatened to shave his head, but he was quite aware of how much she adored his raven colored locks.

Two, the lightening bolt scar that stayed stationary in the center of his forehead and constantly reminded Ginny of the war they had survived. She knew his other scars would never disappear either, leaving the lone visible one to take on the burden.

And three, his eyes…eyes that she knew he received from his mother. When Harry was happy, those gorgeous green eyes contained smiles of their own. They held so much emotion, and by just looking into his eyes, Ginny finally understood why people say that 'Eyes are the keys to the soul.'

"Hullo there," she said cheerfully, placing her hands on his thighs as he arrived at eye level. Harry's eyes lit up with his smile, and he leaned forward with a wiggle of his nose for a kiss,

"Afternoon _Miss._ _Weasley_."

Ginny sent him an odd look because of the pronunciation of her name, but soon forgot about it as Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening their tender kiss.

"Nice to see you too," she giggled when they parted. 

Harry laughed, very loudly actually, and slapped his hands over his eyes. He pulled his hands away from his eyes, quickly, and clapped vigorously with a goofy grin. The redhead looked on with strange eyes.

"What in Merlin's name is wrong with you?" Ginny asked, astounded by his odd behavior.

"I'm just so happy to be _here_, in _this_!" he exclaimed, tugging at the front of his Quidditch uniform. "This is where I learned to fly, this is where the happiest moments of my life…" he dragged off as Ginny glared into his green eyes. "Well, no, not _the_ happiest moment, but…er…some of them, at least." 

He smiled a sheepish grin, and the redhead couldn't resist his charm. 

She had _never_ been able to resist him, even if he wasn't trying to be charming.

She couldn't resist him just being _Harry_.

He was _Harry Potter_, the one thing besides her family that has always remained constant. He's _Harry, Ron's best friend, and Ginny could always expect him to come and stay at The Burrow, to keep hey brothers out of her hair__. _Harry_: the boy who saved her from _Voldemort.__

The man who saved them _all_ from Voldemort.

"What about when _I _controlled the pitch?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms and looking smug, shaking off the blush her thoughts had caused. Harry raised an eyebrow in interest, narrowing his eyes. "Remember when I made those fantastic catches and saved Ron's arse?"

"Of course I remember," Harry muttered, smirking and looking up at the perfect spring sky. "That was probably the worst year of my life…" He looked down at his hands that were gripping the broom, and then turned to Ginny, his eyes squinted. Her stomach plummeted and she sighed softly, feeling horrible for bringing the memory up.

"Beating Malfoy game after game was great, and, hey! You remember when Draco was caught crying about it by Colin's camera?

Ginny's eyes (they had been avoiding Harry's at the mention of his fifth year), snapped back up to him. She was surprised that he was able to get off the topic of that horrible year so quickly, and she decided not to question him about it.

"Yeah, Colin's doing pretty good at the Prophet with his keen eye for great pictures," the redhead giggled, remembering how the picture had been hung up in the Gryffindor Common Room and was probably still there.

Harry laughed and nodded, throwing an arm around her shoulders and tugging her closer. She enjoyed being in his embrace, but then Ginny remembered she had received an invitation to the pitch,

"So, Harry, why on Earth did you call me here? Couldn't we have just played behind the Burrow?" 

Ginny watched as his head shot up and a spark lit up in his brilliant emerald eyes.

"I have a request, Miss. Weasley. A challenge, of sorts."

Her eyes widened and then narrowed very quickly, and it looked as if Harry was sure that he had sent off some alarms. 

"Oh _really_, Mr. Potter? You honestly want to face _me_?"

"You're my only real competition," he said with a large, cheesy smile. "_Accio Firebolt!_"

Out of the rickety broom shed came a broomstick, almost identical to Harry's. Ginny caught it and gaped at it, wondering why Hogwarts would have a Firebolt; if they were going to upgrade their collection, wouldn't they have picked a more modern model?

"What's Hogwarts doing with this?" she asked, letting go of the broom so it would hover and pulling her hair into a nice, high and tight ponytail. 

"Dunno," Harry said quietly. He looked queasy and his skin had gone suddenly pale. _Maybe he's scared of my challenge_, she thought with a grin. "I just saw it in there while looking for, er, stuff."  

Ginny didn't exactly believe his mumble, but she mounted her broom and grasped it tightly. Damn, did she _love_ playing Quidditch.

"What's the game?" she asked, tilting her broom up and starting to fly. Harry followed her, his face red and eyes determined.

"Well, you see…" he started, joining her and grabbing her hand so they could fly together, "McGonagall says there's a Snidget nest around the pitch somewhere, and instead of making poor old Filch look after it, she called on the best Seeker Gryffindor's seen in _years_."

"Me?" Ginny said with a bright smile. Harry blushed and sent her a reprimanding look as they continued to soar higher over the pitch.

"_Anyway_," he continued, ignoring her teasing, "I thought it would be fun for us to put this to an end; who _is_ the better Seeker?"

The redhead eyed her boyfriend carefully, absolutely sure that something was wrong. Harry, denying his title as the best Gryffindor Seeker? He must _at least_ be delusional; maybe it was the sun.

"Harry, you _know_ you're the better Seeker…" she started, but Harry shook his head furiously.

"No, I _don't_ know, I never played you in a game, I have no idea if you would beat me."

Ginny's upper lip perked up as she tried to figure out what was going on with Harry, but he just smiled and leaned towards her, batting her nose with his. 

"You're bloody gorgeous, you know that?" He kissed her, and Ginny could not help but staring at him in shock. 

"You're in_sane_, where on Earth did that come from? …_Oh_." She glared at him, letting go of his hand and crossing her arms. "You're trying to distract me, so _you_ find the Snidget."

Harry chuckled and shook his head, his lips finding her neck. Ginny almost slipped off of her broomstick and into his embrace.

Almost.

"Harry _James_ Potter! Will you please get on with our game? It's not fair!"

She felt him huff, and he gave her neck a final nip before his mouth completely left her body. His hand took residence on her thigh, though, and he rapped his fingers in no particular pattern. Actually, the erratic rapping worried Ginny, and she took her eyes off the pitch and concentrated on Harry.

"Something wrong?" she asked, noticing the flicks of yellow in his eyes. Harry stared back at her with his green eyes round and large behind his glasses. His mouth was twitching slightly, as if he was holding something important from her.

"Gin, I…there's something I need to ask you--_there_!"

Without further warning, Harry dove away from Ginny, flattening his body to his broom. She narrowed her eyes, and with a gasp, she saw something gold zooming away from him.

"That bloody messy haired, no good _GIT_!" she screamed, following Harry in a tight dive of her own. Her face was boiling red with anger, and she kicked the Firebolt's acceleration in, eager to beat her cheating boyfriend.

She didn't particularly notice that she had caught up to Harry in a considerably fast amount of time. Ginny had snuck a peek over at him, and she noticed that his face looked more nervous than determined. 

But, her brown eyes left Harry, and once again locked onto the Snidget, who was fluttering quite furiously away. Ginny leaned forward and noticed another boost of acceleration from the Firebolt. _Damn, no wonder Harry won all the time_, she thought in amazement. 

After about thirty seconds of chasing, it seemed as if the Snidget had grown tired, for its flying accuracy had noticeably faltered and Ginny reached out her hand and noticed that Harry was doing the same…he was taller than her and his fingers were longer, but Ginny wanted that damn Snidget and she pushed herself further up the broom…

With a final scream of "_AH!_" Ginny Weasley caught the Snidget.

She fell off her broom to the grass five feet _below_, but she _caught the bloody bird_.

When she regained focus from her tumble, she scrambled to her feet and jumped up and down, feeling a bit childish, but not caring.

"YES!" she shrieked, pumping her arm. She then realized that she was holding a living creature in her hand, and she stopped all movement, slowly opening up her clenched fist.

"Oh _Harry_!" Ginny cried, feeling horrible about handling the Snidget that way, "Conjure a cage or something I need to put this…_what_?" 

Her eyes were locked onto the object in her hand that looked like a Snidget, but was definitely _not_ a Snidget. 

It was more of a…_toy_ Snidget, and it's fake wings still fluttered slightly in her grasp. Ginny examined it, thinking it might be a toy from one of the current students at Hogwarts, and then dropped it as it began to morph into something else. 

"Harry!" she squeaked, bending down to look at the fallen toy. Ginny heard him land near her, but he didn't say a word, he just squatted down next to her.

The redhead watched until the Snidget toy stopped changing; it had transfigured itself into a small golden box.

"Should we open it?" Ginny asked, turning her head to look over at Harry. She was surprised to see that he was already staring at her, his face pale with what looked like worry, and his forehead covered in perspiration.

He must've taken the loss badly.

Before she could console him, Harry reached down and grabbed the box, picking it up and holding it to his chest. Ginny watched as he opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again, taking some sharp breathes.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Stand up."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at his odd request, but slowly stood, looking down at Harry with interrogating eyes.

"What in bloody hell is wrong with you?"

She didn't get an answer though, for Harry had shifted from his squatting position and was now on one knee in front of her.

Ginny thought she was going to faint.

Her mind rushed back to their first date and it flashed before her eyes. It had taken place in Hogsmeade, during her fifth year. It hadn't officially been called a date, it was really, "Want to go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" because Hermione and Ron had made…er…_plans_. 

But the day went _splendidly_, and as they were saying good night and getting ready to depart to their dorms, Harry had timidly leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, recoiling quickly and rushing up to his bedroom. 

The redhead thought it couldn't get any better, and when it did, she felt like she was forever hovering over the pitch on a bright and cloudless spring day. 

Kind of like today.

On the Valentine's Day of her fifth year, Harry pulled her over into a corner of the common room, his eyes searching the area to make sure that no one was in hearing distance. Ginny remembered the constant blush on his cheeks as he stuttered something along the lines of "Wouldyoubemygirlfriend?" She recalled grabbing his hand and nodding happily, knowing that a kiss would attract too much attention, and quite possibly cause Harry to faint. 

But when they did first kiss, Harry did anything _but_ faint. 

She had been talking animatedly about the Quidditch match they had just played in, giving him details of almost _every _play the three Chasers had performed. He had idly nodded and acted as if he was interested, but she _did _realize that his gaze had lingered at her lips and instead of her eyes. It was when she started babbling (yes, she _had _been babbling) about Ron's fantastic saves, that Harry literally grabbed her lips with his. 

In that quick motion, they had connected into what Ginny thought was perfection.

The redhead remembered it as if they had just shared it moments ago. His upper lip had settled between her two lips and he pulled at hers slightly, bringing her closer. She had had absolutely no idea how experienced Harry was at kissing (though rumors had it that he had a little snogging session with a Ravenclaw-who-will-not-be-named), but she had figured that he didn't have much more than her because he wasn't trying to take the kiss any further, but the redhead did not mind. 

Kissing Harry was _far_ better than kissing Michael-what's-his-name or Dean Thomas. 

He had stuttered an apology for the abruptness of the kiss, but he figured that he better kiss her before she started jabbering about her brother. That would have been a bit of a turn-off. 

As her blissful memories faded, she prayed that she wasn't overreacting.

He _was_ going to do what she thought he was going to do…right?

"I…I told you I needed to ask you something," Harry said softly, breaking the silence. 

_Yes, he is!_

The redhead choked out some sort of acknowledgement, and nodded, covering her mouth with her hands. She watched as Harry shook with nervousness, and opened his mouth,

"Ginny," he choked out, revealing some tears in his eyes. Ginny began to cry then, forgetting about making a fool of her self. "I had this whole speech planned, but I forgot it. I forgot everything," Harry mumbled, looking fiercely embarrassed.

"It's okay," she whispered eagerly, falling down to her knees. Harry's eyes shimmered and he stared at her with colossal adoration, and her heart melted with compassion. 

Ginny had never seen him so nervous, and she wondered if he thought she might say no.

There was really _no chance_ of that happening.

She put her hands out and took his face in her grasp, caressing his high cheekbones with her thumbs. Harry somehow managed to blush deeper, and he blinked away some tears that cascaded out of his eyes and onto her fingers.

"I love you so much," he cried, making Ginny release a sob. Harry managed a strangled laugh as he leaned towards her, knocking their foreheads together. Their blurry eyes went out of focus as they continued to stare deeply at each other.

She could stare into his eyes forever. 

She planned to, actually, if he would just ask her. 

"Ginny, marry me? Make me the happiest man alive?"

His eyes were wide with excitement and anxiousness. Her heart leapt into her throat as he smiled at her, a silly grin. The redhead couldn't help it: she squeaked, loudly. Then she giggled like an absolute idiot as she nodded, managing a high-pitched, 

"Yes!"

Harry's eyes seemed utterly amazed at Ginny's answer, and he froze for a few seconds, trying to swallow the intensity of the word.

"Y-yes?" 

Ginny's shoulders slumped and she tilted her head at him, staring at him with an odd mix of confusion, bafflement, and love. She pinched his cheeks and nodded again,

"_Yes_, Harry, I _will_ marry you!" she said in a teasing voice, though she had never been more serious in her entire twenty years of life.

He laughed, loudly, more out of amazement than because of her taunt. Harry seemed to have gone delusional, because he wasn't looking at her anymore, but gazing everywhere, eyes wide.

Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Freakin'-Lived, was in absolute shock.

It took a small smack on the cheek to get his attention again, and when his emerald eyes locked onto Ginny, he grinned and pounced on her.

Harry's lips were on hers within milliseconds, and the redhead found herself on her back and under the wonderful weight of her boyfr—_fiancé,_ in the middle of Hogwarts' Quidditch Pitch.

She giggled into his mouth, grabbing the back of his head. He broke the kiss to stare at her oddly, and Ginny rolled her eyes in happiness,

"We're _engaged_!" she squealed, pulling him down for another kiss. 

This time Harry laughed into _her_ mouth, and managed to sweep his arms around her back, lifting her up. She somehow landed in his lap, and their lips remained together for quite sometime until Harry let out a small yelp.

"What?" Ginny asked, narrowing her eyes in concern. 

Harry's flushed face deepened into a darker shade of red, and one of his arms released its grip around her waist. She watched as his free hand searched the ground, and her eyes sparkled as his fingers trapped the golden box. 

She had totally forgotten about _that_ part of an engagement. 

Her eyes flicked to Harry, and he was watching her giddy face with true interest. He lifted the box to in between them, and pulling his other hand away from her body, he used it to lift the lid open.

It was Ginny's turn to go into shock.

The ring did not look like a normal engagement ring; actually, it was the most unique ring she had ever seen in her life. Where the traditional diamond usually resided was a small golden ball built into a band made out of an intricate pattern of diamonds. With closer inspection (for _of course_ she had to get closer), she noticed that the band resembled a pair of…

"Wings?" she gasped, looking up at Harry. He grinned and nodded excitedly.

The ring was a Snitch. 

He had given her _a Snitch_. 

How…_Harry._

He took the ring out with amazing gentleness after Ginny released a single chuckle of shock. With his free hand he took her left hand, and looking straight into each other's eyes, Harry slipped the ring onto her finger.

As soon as it was in place Ginny lifted her hand up to examine it, never seeing so many diamonds in one place. It glittered and twinkled in the afternoon sun, and Ginny was quite sure she had never seen anything so beautiful.  

Until she looked into Harry's eyes, that is. 

When Harry looked at her with those eyes…Ginny felt like laughing until her lungs exploded, until she hiccupped for eternity, until she was perfectly purple in the face. The chills that raced through her veins with just one wink, with just a _glance_ from him, made her arms go numb and her fingers twitch in anticipation.

Merlin she loved him.

"I had it specially made," he said softly, taking her hand and looking down at the ring. "I…thought it would be appropriate, I guess…us being Seekers and all…" He grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "Do you like it?"

She smiled, loving his humbleness even though she had already devoted her life to him. Ginny nodded softly, leaning forward to catch his lips in a gentle kiss. Harry's arms snaked around her again, and when they pulled away, Ginny examined the ring,

"It's better than any Snitch I've ever caught," she giggled, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. 

Harry's smile was full of so many emotions that his eyes shimmered with tears as he kissed her again. Ginny pulled away and leaned into his shoulder, the two of them sitting in the middle of their childhood Quidditch Pitch, staring at a ring that symbolized their love and adoration of each other.

It was amazing, really. To think, little Ginny Weasley was sitting in the arms of her _fiancé,_ Harry Potter. She still couldn't believe that it was real, that she was in the arms of Harry.

_Her_ Harry, the man who loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

How amazingly cool was that?

She felt him kiss her forehead, but she didn't look up, content in just lying in his arms. The redhead watched as he took her left hand in his, lifting it up so he could examine the ring. After a few seconds he intertwined their fingers, and she felt his lips on her head again.

"You're absolutely right, Gin," he said, his voice hoarse. "It's the best catch I've ever made." 


End file.
